Note: While this guide was developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, it provides useful information on how to undertake routine cleaning, and cleaning and disinfection following a case or suspected case of COVID-19, in a non-healthcare workplace. 

Related information:

Work health and safety (WHS) ministers have agreed to the new WEL list and a harmonised transition period ending on 30 November 2026. This change comes after extensive work and consultation to revise the Workplace exposure standards for airborne contaminants (WES). 

This document is the list

Safe Work Australia has published a new case study for the construction industry.

Vehicle roll-aways – the unintentional movement of a vehicle that has not been properly immobilised – result in many serious injuries and even fatalities in Australia each year.

Workers’ compensation is a type of insurance that helps support eligible workers who get sick or injured at work, including while working from home.

Safe Work Australia has published an updated information sheet and new web

Under WHS laws, PCBUs must eliminate or minimise psychosocial risks so far as is reasonably practicable.

Consulting with workers and other duty holders is a legal requirement under the model WHS Act and an essential part of managing work health and safety. 

PCBUs must consult, cooperate and coordinate activities with all other persons who have a work health or safety duty in relation to the same matter, so far as is reasonably practicable. 

A health and safety committee (HSC) is a more formal way to consult. It brings together the person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) and workers to discuss and develop ways to improve health and safety at work. 

Health and safety representatives (HSRs) are workers who are elected to represent the health and safety interests of workers. 

‘Work groups’ are groups of workers formed to elect the HSR who will represent them.

Consultation with workers can be done in different ways depending on what suits the size and complexity of the workplace and your workers. It may include formal and informal consultation arrangements.

If you’re a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU), you must consult with workers and other duty holders in managing work health and safety risks.

This guide helps doctors monitor the health of workers exposed to isocyanates.  

Isocyanates are a group of highly reactive, organic compounds of the formula R-N=C=O.  

This infographic shows how to apply the four-step risk management process to manage psychosocial hazards.

Under the model Work Health and Safety Laws, workplaces that handle or use hazardous chemicals must use the hierarchy of controls to manage health and safety risks.  

About this seminar 

Electrical shocks are a major cause of serious injury or death in the trade industry. 

Use this guide if you manage risks to workers exposed to diesel exhaust at the workplace, including: 

• drive-in booth operators 

• miners 

• construction workers 

• oil and gas workers 

This infographic style poster describes three key steps to help you work safely when there is bushfire smoke in your area.  

• PREPARE:  Preparing ahead of the bushfire event. 

In some circumstances, you have a right to stop or refuse to carry out unsafe work. You have this right if you have reasonable concern of a serious risk to your health and safety. You must inform the PCBU as soon as you can that you have ceased work.

The follow provides information about common enquiries for working in heat.   

Workers may face increased or additional work health and safety risks when working alone or in a remote location. This includes a lack of second opinion, support or assistance with difficult tasks, or no one around to notice if they are fatig

Where possible, as a PCBU, you must always eliminate a risk. That means first thinking about if quad bikes are right for the job. When this is not reasonably practicable, you must minimise risks, so far as is reasonably practicable. 

Everyone has a role in managing psychosocial risks. These duties are set out in the model WHS Act and model WHS Regulations.

Find out how to manage the risks of fatigue at work.

Fatigue is more than feeling tired and drowsy. It is mental or physical exhaustion that reduces your ability to work safely and effectively. It can also have serious short and long-term health e

If you’re a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU), you have a duty to manage risks in the workplace. Identifying hazards in your workplace is the first step in managing risk. 

As a PCBU, you must identify hazards and manage the associated risks, so far as is reasonably practicable. You also must ensure the measures you put in place remain effective.   

People who work in health care and social assistance are exposed to hazards from the type of work they do, where they work and the people they work with.  

If you have volunteers in your organisation, they are part of your workforce.

Risk management should be ongoing. You may need to think about risk management again when changes occur within your workplace. For example, when you start a new business, change your business structure or purchase new equipment. 

Risk management involves thinking about what could happen if someone is exposed to a hazard and how likely it is to happen. You should always aim to eliminate risks. If you can’t, you must minimise risks so far as is reasonably practicable. 

Persons who conduct a business or undertaking (such an employer) and others have a duty to manage WHS risks in the workplace. 

If you have carcinogens at your workplace, you must manage the risks they pose.

The mining industry has made significant improvements in health and safety over the last decade, reducing the incidence rates of both fatalities and serious injuries. However, the mining industry still has one of the highest rates of fatalities of any industry. 

Work health and safety (WHS) laws apply when workers work from home just as they do in traditional workplaces such as offices.

Risk management involves thinking about what could happen if someone is exposed to a hazard and how likely it is to happen. Hazards are things and situations that could harm a person. 

Workplace violence and aggression is when a person is abused, threatened or assaulted at the workplace or while they’re working. 

Scaffolding work can be dangerous. As a person conducting a business or undertaking, you have a duty to keep workers and workplaces safe from the risks of scaffolds and scaffolding work. 

Working alone or remotely can increase the health and safety risks of any job. Workers may be isolated from support and assistance because of where or when they’re working, or the nature of their work they are doing. 

Most jobs involve some psychosocial hazards. These are the hazards that can harm workers’ mental health. 

Fatigue is more than feeling tired and drowsy. In a work context, fatigue is mental and/or physical exhaustion that reduces your ability to perform your work safely and effectively.

Excavation is dangerous work. Collapses can happen quickly, making it hard for workers and others to escape.  

Workplace bullying is repeated, unreasonable behaviour directed at a worker (or group of workers).